Health news

• 10 reasons why your high heels are killing you 

  28-01-2017 23:31 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Last week MP called for a ban on work dress codes requiring women to wear high heels stating it was gender discrimination, and that they cause physical damage.
  
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• Hospitals giving premature babies cuddly octopus toys

  28-01-2017 23:22 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  The idea began at Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark, where medical staff reported that the toy octopi calmed babies, led to improved breathing and cardiac patterns.
  
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• Scientists discover why your fingers wrinkle when wet

  28-01-2017 23:20 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Researchers at Newcastle University asked volunteers to picked up wet or dry objects, including marbles of different sizes, with dry hands or with fingers wrinkled after soaking for 30 minutes
  
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• Plain packaging and graphic warnings will ‘crush’ craft drinks, says gin master

  28-01-2017 21:17
  
  Campaigners slam ‘sanctimonious’ health experts after call for tobacco-style warningsIt’s enough to make Jared Brown spill his drink. The co-founder and master distiller behind Sipsmith, the micro-distillery in the vanguard of the craft gin movement in the UK, is contemplating the possibility of graphic warning photographs and plain packaging appearing on bottles of alcohol, akin to the restrictions on tobacco that assume full force in May.“Are they considering similar la
  
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• The Knights of Malta-Vatican feud: a tale of chivalry and sovereignty

  28-01-2017 20:02
  By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - On the afternoon of Jan. 24, a black BMW pulled out of a 16th century palace in Rome, crossed the Tiber River and headed for the Vatican, a short trip to end a brazen challenge to the authority of Pope Francis. Inside the car was 67-year-old Englishman Matthew Festing, the head of an ancient Catholic order of knights which is now a worldwide charity with a unique diplomatic status. Festing was about to resign, the first leader in several centuries of t
  
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• Factbox - Who are the Knights of Malta?

  28-01-2017 19:58
  The Knights of Malta, an ancient Catholic order which operates as global charity, has its headquarters on one of Rome's most exclusive streets, the cobble-stoned Via Condotti where red-and-white flags bearing the Maltese Cross fly above the entrance. The leadership of the order -- formally, the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta -- has been locked in a battle with the Vatican for the past two months. Here are some facts about the order: - The K
  
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• Republican lawmakers worry if 'Trumpcare' doesn't deliver

  28-01-2017 19:39
  Republican lawmakers are fearful about the potential political fallout if their eventual replacement of President Barack Obama's health law doesn't deliver, and they didn't hold back at their recent policy ...
  
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• 'She Decides': Dutch put millions into birth control fund

  28-01-2017 19:09
  THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch government announced Saturday it's putting 10 million euros ($10.7 million) into an international fund it has launched to finance access to birth control, abortion and sex education for women in developing nations after President Donald Trump cut U.S. funding for such services.
  
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• Hospitals 'dangerously full' during winter crisis, says thinktank

  28-01-2017 18:28
  
  King’s Fund reveals hospitals only met target of 85% bed occupancy for three days over month-long period
  Hospitals were dangerously full during the recent onset of the winter crisis and breached an edict from NHS bosses to keep one in seven beds free, a new King’s Fund analysis reveals. England’s 153 acute hospital trusts were told by the health service regulator on 9 December to run at no more than 85% bed occupancy between 19 December and 16 January, the internationally recog
  
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• Dutch commit $10 million to replace lost U.S. abortion funding

  28-01-2017 18:08
  The Netherlands has committed $10 million (£8 million) for an initiative to replace funding for abortion services in developing countries that will be lost due to U.S. President Donald Trump's ban on financing foreign groups that provide abortions. Trump reinstated a policy on Monday requiring overseas organizations that receive U.S. family-planning funds to certify they do not perform abortions or provide abortion advice as a method of family planning. The Netherlands, which has some of t
  
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• SHOCKING: You won’t BELIEVE how many GERMS are on your hands

  28-01-2017 17:19 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  GERMS are unavoidable, but you may be shocked by how many bacteria live on your skin.
  
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• Missing Pakistani activist Salman Haider recovered - family

  28-01-2017 16:20
  By Mehreen Zahra-Malik ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani poet and activist Salman Haider who went missing from the capital Islamabad earlier this month, just days after four other human rights campaigners disappeared, has been found, his family said on Saturday. The five missing liberal activists, some of whom have posted blogs criticising the political influence of the military and speaking up for the rights of religious minorities, had each gone missing separately since Jan. 4. "Salman is fine,
  
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• Drugs firms are accused of putting cancer patients at risk over price hikes

  28-01-2017 15:54
  
  Research shows price of 14 treatments that should cost pennies has risen by up to 1,000%Drug companies have been accused of profiteering by raising the prices of out-of-patent cancer medicines that cost just pence to make, inflating the bills of the cash-strapped NHS by hundreds of millions of pounds.Academics say the prices of 14 cancer drugs have increased by between 100% and nearly 1,000% over the past five years in the UK. These are all generic drugs where the patent has expired, which means
  
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• Drug firms ‘put lives of cancer patients at risk’ as out-of-patent prices are inflated

  28-01-2017 15:54
  
  Research shows price of 14 treatments that should cost pennies has risen by up to 1,000%Drug companies have been accused of profiteering by raising the prices of out-of-patent cancer medicines that cost just pence to make, inflating the bills of the cash-strapped NHS by hundreds of millions of pounds.Academics say the prices of 14 cancer drugs have increased by between 100% and nearly 1,000% over the past five years in the UK. These are all generic drugs where the patent has expired, which means
  
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• Woman kept alive for six days with no lungs

  28-01-2017 15:23 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A woman was kept alive with no lungs for six days while she waited for a transplant in April last year.
  
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• Drinking too much? Blame your other half says study

  28-01-2017 13:03 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  A study has found couples influence each other’s drinking over the years. They become ‘drinking partners’, probably because they use alcohol to bond. This can lead to bad habits.
  
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• Hospital closes two wards after flu outbreak

  28-01-2017 12:43
  
  Addenbrooke’s in Cambridge suffers surge in admissions and outbreak within hospital itself An outbreak of flu has left 60 patients ill and forced the closure of two wards at Addenbrooke’s hospital in Cambridge.People are being urged to stay away after a surge in admissions due to flu this week and a further outbreak within the hospital. Continue reading...
  
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• UK confirms two more cases of bird flu on turkey and pheasant farms

  28-01-2017 12:12
  British authorities say they have confirmed two more bird flu cases on farms in northern and eastern England, meaning there are now four areas where restrictions are in place across the country to reduce the spread of the disease. The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) said it had confirmed a case of H5N8 avian flu in a flock of about 1,000 pheasants at a farm in Wyre, Lancashire, in northern England on Friday. It was the second outbreak reported at a farm in Wyre this
  
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• Trump aides divided over policy shielding 'dreamer' immigrants - sources

  28-01-2017 12:08
  By Julia Edwards Ainsley and Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Divisions have emerged among advisers to President Donald Trump over whether to rescind a signature policy of his predecessor, President Barack Obama, that shields young immigrants from deportation, according to congressional sources and Republicans close to the White House. Priebus has said publicly that Trump will work with Congress to get a "long-term solution" on the issue.
  
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• Officials confirm second bird flu outbreak in Lancashire

  28-01-2017 11:57
  
  Avian flu strain confirmed in pheasants at Preston premises with business link to nearby farm where earlier infection found
  A second outbreak of bird flu has been confirmed in Lancashire, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has said. The H5N8 avian flu strain was confirmed in a flock of about 1,000 pheasants at a premises in Pilling, Preston, by the UK’s deputy chief veterinary officer, Graeme Cooke. Related: Free range eggs may have to be renamed because of bird flu res
  
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• Is YOUR drinking causing erectile dysfunction? GP reveals WHY alcohol causes sex issues

  28-01-2017 09:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  ERECTILE dysfunction also known as impotence, is the inability to get and maintain and erection.
  
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• Chinese New Year fireworks spark a return to hazardous Beijing pollution

  28-01-2017 08:21
  By Jake Spring BEIJING (Reuters) - Residents of China's capital awoke on Saturday to dense, choking smog after many set off a barrage of fireworks overnight to ring in the Lunar New Year, despite limits and public admonitions against such displays in the congested city. The Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau said harmful particulate matter in the air had hit the second-highest level in five years by Saturday morning, the state-owned China News Service reported. Beijing launched a
  
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• Quitting EU regulator 'would leave UK waiting longer' for new drugs

  28-01-2017 08:00
  
  Drug firms say leaving EMA could mean Britons having to wait a year longer than EU citizens for newly-developed medicinesMinisters are coming under growing pressure to scrap plans to quit Europe’s medicines regulator as part of Brexit, with drug firms saying doing so could force Britons to wait a year longer than patients in the EU to access new drugs. Labour and leaders of the UK’s pharmaceutical industry fear that patients and the NHS will lose out if Britain gives up its membershi
  
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• Actor John Hurt, star of 'The Elephant Man', dies aged 77

  28-01-2017 07:41
  By Thomas Newey LONDON (Reuters) - Veteran British actor Sir John Hurt, Oscar-nominated for his star turn in "The Elephant Man" and his supporting role in "Midnight Express", has died after a long battle with pancreatic cancer, a representative said on Saturday. Hurt, who had starred in more than 200 films and television series over a career spanning six decades, revealed in 2015 that he was suffering from the early stages of pancreatic cancer and that he was receiving treatment. The BBC, citing
  
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• How breast cancer and the BRCA gene brought us the sister we never knew

  28-01-2017 07:00
  
  For Tamsin and Lorna, discovering their half-sister was good news at a time of gruelling treatments and agonising choices over preventive surgeryLike all sisters, Tamsin and Lorna Sargeant and Claire Pike are linked by their genes. But in their case, one gene has dominated their relationship; in fact, it was responsible for bringing them together for the very first time. In this picture of the three of them smiling in the sunshine they look happy and carefree – but the gene that brought th
  
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• Trump refugee order dashes hopes of Iraqis who helped the U.S.

  28-01-2017 03:49
  By Jonathan Allen and Ned Parker NEW YORK (Reuters) - Iraqis who say their lives are in danger because they worked with the U.S. government in Iraq fear their chances of finding refuge in the United States may vanish under a new order signed on Friday by President Donald Trump. The order temporarily suspends the United States' main refugee program and halts visas being issued to citizens of several predominantly Muslim countries, including Iraq. It is expected to affect two programs U.S. lawmake
  
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• Virtual reality 'could help treat vertigo'

  28-01-2017 02:40 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Virtual reality could be used to diagnose and treat visual vertigo, according to a team of Cardiff University scientists.
  
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• DR MAX: I worry about nurses who can't speak English

  28-01-2017 02:39 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  While it is quite right that foreign nurses should work in the NHS, it is vital that they should conform to the same high standards, writes DR MAX PEMBERTON.
  
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• FDA claim seizure danger of homeopathic teething tablets

  28-01-2017 01:07 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  According to laboratory analysis by the health regulator, the amounts of belladonna, a toxic substance, sometimes far exceeded the amount claimed on the labels.
  
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• Seizure danger of homeopathic teething tablets

  28-01-2017 00:40 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  According to laboratory analysis by the health regulator, the amounts of belladonna, a toxic substance, sometimes far exceeded the amount claimed on the labels.
  
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• Tensions simmer below surface as Trump, Republicans map strategy

  28-01-2017 00:20
  By Richard Cowan and Susan Cornwell PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - When President Donald Trump was elected last November, Republican lawmakers enthusiastically joined his call to rewrite the tax code and dismantle Obamacare in the first 100 days of his presidency. Trump had a different idea when he spoke to lawmakers in Philadelphia, telling them: Enough talk. Before the cameras, Trump and Republicans sought to convey an image of a happy, unified family, playing down differences over tax policy, wheth
  
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• Hundreds of footballers diagnosed with cancer 'from field'

  28-01-2017 00:07 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  More than 50 Washington state soccer players have developed cancer, allegedly stemming from chemicals in the rubber field. Hundreds more around the world claim the same (file image).
  
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• UW Medicine Sleep Center says lack of sleep makes you ill

  28-01-2017 00:04 via dailymail.co.uk
  
  Researchers at the UW Medicine Sleep Center took blood samples from 11 pairs of identical twins with different sleep patterns. Every sleep-deprived twin had a weaker immune response.
  
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